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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)Xbox Game Studios
Director(s)Adam Isgreen
Composer(s)Todd Masten
SeriesAge of Empires
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows
  • November 14, 2019
  • Xbox One, Series X/S
  • January 31, 2023
Genre(s)Real-time strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a 2019 real-time strategy video game developed by World's Edge and Forgotten Empires and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is a remaster of the 1999 game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the original. It features significantly improved visuals, supports 4K resolution, and includes all previous expansions from the original and HD Edition. In addition, the game includes The Last Khans, an expansion that adds four new civilizations based on Central Asia and Eastern Europe, as well as four new campaigns. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition was released for Windows on November 14, 2019, and was ported to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on January 31, 2023.

Gameplay

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Gameplay of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

The core gameplay elements are shared heavily with the original. The remaster includes 4K graphics, improved visuals for troops and buildings, the ability to zoom in and further out, and a new spectator mode. It features a new expansion called The Last Khans and includes four new civilizations: Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians and Tatars. Four new campaigns were added for the new civilizations: Ivaylo, Kotyan Khan, Tamerlane and Pachacuti which is about the Inca civilization and replaces El Dorado from the HD Edition (Lithuanians do not appear as a playable civilization in any campaign; however, they represent Poles in the Ivaylo campaign).[1][2] It includes all previous expansions from the original (The Conquerors) and HD edition (The Forgotten, The African Kingdoms, Rise of the Rajas).[1][3]

Players can choose between the original AI, the updated HD Edition AI that was added alongside the HD Edition of the game, and a newer AI developed for the Definitive Edition.[4] The original AI had to cheat to be competitive, while the new AI is advanced enough to not require any cheating. When the old and new AIs were pitted against each other in a test, the new one easily defeated the old one.[5] Unit pathfinding is also supposedly improved upon.[6] Players can shift-queue villager tasks.[7] Farms now have the option to be replenished automatically.[8]

Development

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Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings was developed by Ensemble Studios and released in 1999. Ensemble Studios was acquired by Microsoft in 2001 and ultimately shuttered in 2009, just after their final project, Halo Wars, was finished.[9][10] Hidden Path Entertainment developed a high-definition remaster of Age of Empires II, HD Edition, which released in 2013. Among other features, HD Edition added Steam Workshop integration for custom content.[11] Concurrently, a group of modders had been developing additional content and bug fixes for the original game, called Forgotten Empires. Approaching Microsoft after the mod's release in late 2012, and learned Microsoft was developing HD Edition and was interested in turning their mod into an official release.[12] Their efforts became the first expansion for HD Edition, "The Forgotten", developed in conjunction with Skybox Labs.[13][14] The mod team, now Forgotten Empires LLC, continued to collaborate with Microsoft on new expansions for HD Edition.[15][16]

Release

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Bert Beeckman (co-founder of Forgotten Empires) and Adam Isgreen at E3 2019

On August 21, 2017, at Gamescom, Microsoft announced Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition was in development by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media and Wicked Witch Software.[17][18] On June 9, 2019, Microsoft revealed the gameplay trailer at Xbox E3 2019.[3][19] It released on the Xbox Game Pass for PC in addition to Steam and the Windows Store on November 14, 2019.[20][21] A port to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S was announced during the 25th anniversary livestream on October 25, 2022, and was released on January 31, 2023.[22] The console version features both gamepad and mouse and keyboard controls, and optional cross-platform play with PC version.

Expansions

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An expansion pack, Lords of the West, was announced on December 15, 2020, and released on January 26, 2021. The Lords of the West expansion introduced two further civilizations, the Burgundians and the Sicilians, as well as three new campaigns, featuring Edward Longshanks, the Dukes of Burgundy, and the Hautevilles.[23]

A second expansion, Dawn of the Dukes, was announced on April 10, 2021, and released on August 10. It introduced two Central European civilizations, the Poles, and the Bohemians, with the Lithuanians being the subject of a campaign, as well as three new campaigns, featuring Jadwiga, Jan Žižka, and Algirdas and Kestutis.[24]

In June 2021, for the first time since Age of Empires Online, co-op campaigns were introduced into the game.[25]

A third expansion, Dynasties of India, was announced on April 14, 2022, and was released on April 28. It features three new civilizations, the Bengalis, the Dravidians, and the Gurjaras. Additionally, the expansion also features reworks to the existing Indian civilization, which was renamed the Hindustani. Three new campaigns, featuring Babur, Rajendra, and Devapala, were also introduced.[26]

To celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary a fourth expansion was announced, Return of Rome. It is composed of content from Age of Empires: Definitive Edition brought into the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition engine, plus one new civilization (the Lạc Việt) and three new campaigns (featuring Sargon of Akkad, Pyrrhus of Epirus and Trajan), and the Roman civilization for the main game.[27][28] It was released on May 16, 2023.[29] On 8 September 2023, two campaigns (Ascent of Egypt and The First Punic War) from Age of Empires: Definitive Edition were added to Return of Rome.[30] Two other campaigns for Return of Rome, Glory of Greece and Voices of Babylon, were added on October 31.[31]

A fifth expansion, The Mountain Royals, was announced on October 16, 2023, and released on October 31. It introduces two new civilizations, the Georgians and the Armenians, as well as three new campaigns, featuring Tamar, Thoros the Great, and Ismail.[32]

A story expansion, Victors and Vanquished, was announced on February 23, 2024, and released on March 14. It adds 19 scenarios by modder Ramsey Abdulrahim; 14 are remakes of his previous works, with five being new.[33][34]

In October 2024, a new expansion titled Chronicles: Battle for Greece was announced, featuring three ancient civilizations: Achaemenids, Athenians and Spartans, set to be released on 14 November later that year.[35]

Reception

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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic with a score of 84/100 from 32 reviews.[36] Windows Central's Cale Hunt praised the improved artwork, animations and quality of life additions but criticized the AI path finding and pointed out a need for further balancing.[38]

Notes

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  1. ^ Additional work by Tantalus Media and Wicked Witch

References

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  1. ^ a b Isgreen, Adam (June 9, 2019). "E3 2019: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Launching Fall 2019, Beta Coming Soon". Xbox Wire. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  2. ^ "Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition will release this fall". PCGamesN. June 9, 2019. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Honorof, Marshall (June 14, 2019). "Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Lives Up to Its Name at E3 2019". www.laptopmag.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  4. ^ White, Sam (November 12, 2019). "Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition review – reverent treatment". pcgamesn.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  5. ^ Shea, Brian. "How Age Of Empires II: Definitive Edition Hopes It Is Living Up To Its Name". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  6. ^ Calvin, Alex (October 3, 2019). "Why Microsoft is investing so heavily in the Age of Empires series". PC Games Insider. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  7. ^ Ray, Bodhisatwa (November 21, 2019). "Age of Empires II Definitive Edition Review: Price in India and review". BGR India. Archived from the original on December 20, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  8. ^ "Review: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition". Hardcore Gamer. December 12, 2019. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  9. ^ "Microsoft to acquire Ensemble Studios". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2001.
  10. ^ Robinson, Martin (January 30, 2009). "Ensemble Studios Shuttered". IGN. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  11. ^ "Age of Empires II HD arriving April 9". Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "The Story so Far... - Forgotten Empires". Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "Age of Empires 2 HD gets new expansion pack". Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  14. ^ Williams, Katie (August 19, 2013). "After 14 years, an Age of Empires 2 fan mod becomes an official expansion". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 25, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  15. ^ Mashiur, Zoheb (January 5, 2017). "Age of Empires 2: Evergreen, not Forgotten". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  16. ^ Moss, Richard (December 28, 2015). "How a Mod Team Helped Age of Empires 2 Thrive". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  17. ^ Knezevic, Kevin (August 21, 2017). "Age Of Empires 2 And 3 Remasters Announced". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  18. ^ Wright, Steve (June 19, 2019). "Aussie devs Wicked Witch, Tantalus working on Age of Empires 2". Stevivor. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  19. ^ Giret, Laurent (August 19, 2019). "Age of Empires: DE launches on Steam with cross play support, Age of Empires II DE also coming on November 14". OnMSFT.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  20. ^ "Pre-purchase Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  21. ^ Moore, Ewan (August 19, 2019). "Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition Release Date Confirmed". UNILAD. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  22. ^ Romano, Sal (October 25, 2022). "Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition coming to Xbox Series and Xbox One on January 31, 2023; Age of Empires IV in 2023". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  23. ^ "Pre-Order Age of Empires II: DE – Lords of the West, coming January 26th!" (in Lithuanian). Forgotten Empires. December 15, 2020. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  24. ^ Age of Empires: Fan Preview. Xbox. April 10, 2021. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via YouTube.
  25. ^ Age DE Team (June 15, 2021). "Co-Op has Arrived in June's Public Update Preview!". Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  26. ^ Age Of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties Of India Trailer. Age of Empires. April 14, 2022. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022 – via YouTube.
  27. ^ Mann, Michael (October 25, 2022). "Age of Empires 25th Anniversary Broadcast – the Rundown". Archived from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  28. ^ Partis, Danielle (May 15, 2023). "The Return of Rome Expansion Turns Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Into The Game From Your Nostalgic Memories". Xbox Wire. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  29. ^ "Return of Rome: Everything You Need to Know". Age of Empires. May 5, 2023. Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  30. ^ "Additional Campaigns Come to Return of Rome!". Age of Empires. September 8, 2023. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  31. ^ "Preview: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Update 95810". Age of Empires. October 30, 2023. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  32. ^ "Pre-Order Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – The Mountain Royals!". Age of Empires. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  33. ^ Tolbert, Samuel (February 23, 2024). "Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition gets new campaign-focused Victors and Vanquished DLC for Xbox consoles and Windows PC". Windows Central. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  34. ^ Purdy, Kevin (February 26, 2024). "Age of Empires 2 gets another expansion 25 years later, and deservedly so". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  35. ^ Rossi, José V. (October 18, 2024). "Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition Getting New DLC". Game Rant.
  36. ^ a b "Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  37. ^ Brown, Fraser (November 12, 2019). "Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  38. ^ "Review — Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a remake true to its past". Windows Central. November 12, 2019. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
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